because what could possibly be more spooky than halloween? 

The weather report flickers in front of you. Warm front, it says. Cold front tomorrow, it says. Tornado watch, lights out in much of the region, it says. Thunderstorms, it says. Trick-or-treaters go out early tonight, it says. 

The clouds smile at you with all of their teeth. 

There are much less trick-or-treaters than you remember. More of them are wearing masks. The ones that aren’t are traveling in larger packs. The clouds thicken, darken. One of the masks twists into a smile.  

You cautiously put a piece of candy into every single beckoning bag. Watch the tongue, now. Won’t you please be a dear and unwrap that one? They don’t like wrappers. You decide it doesn’t matter. It’s just a bunch of little children and their parents, right? Nothing too scary about that, surely.

(When you look away, they flutter in the corner of your eye. They meld into a single shapeless, endless being with gaping, gasping holes where their heads were. Some other groups turn into bloated, wheezing skinless voids of nothing. Still others grow, grow until they escape what little you can see from the side-eye you’re giving them. They grow green tentacles, black portals, twisting ripping flesh.)

It’s Halloween, you tell yourself. They’re just a normal family in a normal suburban town on the East Coast of America. You’re just a normal person giving treats to these trick-or-treaters that are just normal elementary schoolers. Normal kids. They are not meant to be scary. They are here for treats. 

You feel as though you are stuck in a loop. Hear the doorbell ring, open the door, offer a basket, close the door. Just ignore the shadows. Surely they won’t harm you, right?

One of them asks you for a trick. You tell them, regretfully, that you don’t know any. They smile at you with all their tombstone teeth, black witch hat cocked just so. “You will.” 

It’s 10pm. The trick-or-treaters have all hid. The promised thunderstorm begins. 

The lights flicker once, briefly. Twice. They’re out now. The empty night smiles at you as the last of your lights blink out. The wind howls in the trees. The rain pours. You see nothing but an inky black void outside since all the houses on your block have gone down. 

The doorbell rings. It is pouring so hard you can hear the lashing rain against the windows (it sounds like someone bashing on the windows). Who could it be, you wonder. It rings again. Desperate.

You open the door, of course. Candy at the ready. Regardless of the storm, no human would turn down candy.

The child with the too-big smile beams at you. “I’m here to teach you a trick!” they say. 

“Wouldn’t you rather have a treat?” you suggest instead. You can still hear the rain, but you see nothing outside. Just this little child smiling at you, black witch hat cocked just so.

Everyone: *eating*

Jeff:... bOYS AND GIRLS OF EVERY AGE

Everyone: WoUldn't YOu LiKe To seE SomeThinG STrAngE

Also

Hoodie and Masky- each other

Ben- puts a white sheet over himself, a ghost he claims

LJ- Pennywise

Eyeless Jack- sexy nurse

Sally- creepy doll

Jeff- devil

Toby- zombie (he let's his mouth gash show)

Jane- vampire

Jeff- pranking, killing, trick or treating with Sally, screaming Halloween

Ben- trick or treating with Sally and Jeff

Laughing Jack- giving out poisonous candy of course!

Jane- carving out pumpkins in the shape of Jeff's face only to then smashing. Smashing Pumpkins in the shape of Jeff.

Toby, Masky, and Hoodie: going through a bunch of haunted houses